Copa del Rey

As in previous years, the three initial rounds of the Spanish
cup will be played over one leg, with two-leg knockouts from there on up to the
final. The first three rounds will be between second division A clubs and the
top sides from the second division B and the third division, as follows:

First round: This will only
involve 24 second division B and 18 third division clubs. The 2B clubs are made
up of the top five of each of last season's four regional groups, plus the six
best placed sides after that. The four promoted sides are excluded, replaced by three of
the four sides who were relegated (excluding Athletic B). The teams qualifying from the third division
are the 18 regional group champions, except in the cases where this was a B
side, where the runners up will qualify. Six of the 2B sides will be excluded
and given byes to the next round, leaving 18 ties to be played, with clubs
grouped into four geographical regions.Games will be played over one leg at the
ground of the first named side, with the losers going in to the Federation Cup.

Second round: The 18 winners
from round one plus the six exempt sides will join the 21 second division A
sides (excluding Sevilla Atlético, who are a B team). The 2A sides will play off
against each other in one section of the draw,with one team given a bye, and the lower division sides
will also be drawn against each other in another section. Again matches will
take place over one leg.

Third round: Once again the 2A
sides and the lower division sides will be kept apart, with the 10 winners from
the 2A grouping playing off against each other. The 12 lower division
winners from the second round will also meet each other.

Fourth round: The 20 first
division clubs will only enter the competition in round four together with the
twelve survivors from the previous rounds. The six teams from the lower
divisions will play six of the seven sides who are playing in Europe this season
(Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Villarreal and Sevilla from the
Champions League, and Athletic Bilbao and Celta from the Europa League). The
six second division A sides will be drawn against the remaining sides from the
first division. That will leave eight first division sides who will be drawn
against each other. As mentioned above, ties take place over two legs, with the
first leg at the ground of the lower division club.

Fifth round onwards: Sixteen
teams will therefore go in to a fifth round, where the draw will be free. The
only proviso is that, where two sides of different divisions meet, the first
leg will be played at the ground of the lower division side. As from the
quarter finals this condition will no longer apply.

The final this season has provisionally been scheduled for Saturday 27th May, at a venue to be decided. (22.07.16)